Author Topic: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing  (Read 2696 times)

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Offline armymedic.2

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cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« on: October 09, 2012, 09:53:36 pm »
so i cut some shagbark hickory today to make a few bows with this winter.  i've never gone "from scratch" before on a bow, so i was excited to do it.   i got to her a little late and was very dissapointed to find the bark won't peel anymore like it has when ive gotten hick in the past for other projects.  , so it appears i will have my first experience with a draw knife as well.   i also found some bug damage inside that i should be able to avoid. everything ive done so far  so far has been sureforms, cabinet scrapers and four way rasps.   little nervous about violating the back as i remove the bark, as i have backed everything else i have done, but this is meant to be my learning how to make a self bow..... memory lane for many of you i'm sure!   cutting and splitting was so much easier than i thought!  but i found lots of knots inside i couldn't see through the bark, but it is relatively straight grained.   that said lots more character than i bargained for anyway.  but anyways, here are the pics!

standing tall- i took the first two 80 inch sections out of her




split silly easy






all sealed up on the ends and laying in front of the dehumidifier.   went from 38% moisture to 32% just this afternoon,


on these curvy buggers, i need to split the edges of my limbs so that it follows the grain right?   

hope yall enjoyed the pics, sure was fun doin it so far!
Some say freedom is free, well i have to disagree-
some say freedom is won, by the barrel of a gun.

Offline Matt Heppe

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2012, 10:08:31 pm »
I'm no expert, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you want to dry freshly cut wood in front of a dehumidifier. I think you're supposed to let it dry more slowly at first.

I recently dried a persimmon stave in front of a dehumidifier and it checked terribly.
Eternal Knight: where I write about writing, do book reviews, and display my novice bows.

Offline armymedic.2

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2012, 10:29:30 pm »
Matt.   Noted.   I put dehumidifier in adjacent room with door open.   Its in the basement so it is humid down there........i had mold grow on wood fast before i had the dehumidifier ...so i wanted to make sure.    I have it set 35% so i think that should be cool.
Some say freedom is free, well i have to disagree-
some say freedom is won, by the barrel of a gun.

Offline Guessed

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2012, 10:59:52 pm »
It'll be months before it's dry enough to start shaping it, probably at least half a year. Even after rough shaping it you might have to wait a few more months. In reading posts here it seems those who try to quickly dry it end up cracking the tree/stave and it becomes useless or almost useless.

Time, patience. I admire those who keep cranking out bows because they must have let their logs sit around for a long time ("season").

When I'm out in the bush I cut some trees too but I won't be able to touch them until the next time I come home. So, everything I cut on this visit will be nice and seasoned when I come home again.

*sigh*

Or maybe try some saplings and/or branches, being smaller and thinner you'd figure they'd season a little more quickly.

edit: oh yeah i forgot, you'll probably end up taking one or two rings off anyway, don't worry the first layer under the bark
« Last Edit: October 09, 2012, 11:13:19 pm by Guessed »

Offline SA

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2012, 11:12:17 pm »
those look nice and straight i'd say your off to a good start , waiting for them to dry is going to be the hardest part  :)
Shawn Acker

Offline osage outlaw

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2012, 11:19:55 pm »
Looks like some good hickory, straight and little to no twist.  When you are ready to remove the bark, you might be able to start at one and and work the drawknife under the bark.  Use the drawknife to pry up on the bark.  I have had success doing it this way.  You can remove strips of bark all the way down the stave by prying it up and then moving the drawknife down as far as you can and pry up again.  Sometimes I could get the entire width of the stave at once, but other times I would have to go down the length 2 or 3 times to get it all.  Once you get the bark off, there will be a thin stringy layer of cambium/inner bark left on the stave.  That is easily removed with a scraper or sandpaper. 
I started out with nothin' and I still got most of it left

Offline armymedic.2

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2012, 11:44:15 pm »
Good tip.    I will try that method next week when my drawknife arrives.   

As far as drying.........i thought the whole reason to use whitewood was the rapid drying possibility.  At least that was the theory in tbb.   

For taking down the width can i cut it on bandsaw?   Have to split to follow the curves right?
Some say freedom is free, well i have to disagree-
some say freedom is won, by the barrel of a gun.

Offline DarkSoul

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2012, 09:05:02 am »
Whitewoods can indeed be dried relatively fast. But there speed drying and there is speed drying. When we're talking of 'speed drying a wood', you are looking for gradually lowering the moisture content in a period of maybe four or five weeks.  If you were to put the wood in the windy Sahara, the wood will be drying so fast on the surface, that it will check since the inner wood is still soaking wet. Think of your dehumidifier as the windy Sahara: the wood can dry too rapidly.
Drying wood depends on many factors, but the most easily influenced factor is the thickness of the wood you want to dry. Wood dries from the surface, so the inner wood will stay moist the longest. You can speed up the drying process tremendously by reducing the staves to a smaller thickness. A 2"x4" dries twice as fast as a 3"x3".  The staves are currently very thick, and if you don't do anything with them,  it WILL take at least one year before they are fully dry. If you rough them out somewhat (to near-floor tillered dimensions, but leave them wider) on a band saw, with an axe or drawknife, you're looking at two or three months drying time.
It is important to note that this holds true for ANY wood; not just hickory, nor only whitewoods. However, whitewoods are easier to speed dry than tropical hardwoods or woods such as osage/mulberry. The bark you left on the back, also slows the moisture down. This is great for woods that are sensitive to checking when (speed) drying, but is not needed for easy to dry whitewoods.  I would therefore advice you to remove the bark carefully, and thin the stave enough to get it just bending an inch.Put the wood indoors (possibly near the dehumidifier if you live in a moist environment, but I personally don't think this machine is necessary, nor is a hot box). I prefer a bedroom or attic; a garage or cellar are often too moist for speed drying.  Wait for about four weeks and you can commence up to floor tillering. Once the bow has been floor tillered, I'd put it aside for another additional week of drying. This will drive the last bit of moisture out. This is also the point where you can weigh the stave, to see if it looses any weight (=moisture) in a few days. When the stave stops loosing any weight a few days in a row, the wood has reached equilibrium moisture content (EMC).
Be very careful you don't damage the wood underneath the bark. That will be the back of your bow and must be undamaged. The bark is much softer than the wood, and it is therefore important you FEEL the tools you're using. A drawknife will eat the bark with no problems, but it will require more effort to cut the wood. If you're removeing the bark with a drawknife, it should be easy without too much energy involved. As soon as you suddenly have to apply more pressure on the tool, you're probably cutting the wood and must stop immediately. Dull tools can be better for bark removal. A dull drawknife, scraper and course sandpaper.
If you have a lot of wood, you could choose to deliberately sacrifice one stave and make a bow today - from green wood. You must then always remember the wood is still wet, so the bow will take a lot of set, and shoot sluggish. The bow might break after a few weeks, when the woods dries (dry wood is more likely to break than green wood). But you could have a shootable bow by the end of the day...this might keep your mind occupied while the rest of your (better) staves dries.
"Sonuit contento nervus ab arcu."
Ovid, Metamorphoses VI-286

Offline TRACY

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2012, 09:35:16 am »
Army med 2, looks like a great haul and a lot of good bows in there. Outlaw has good advice on stripping bark off since it won't peel. As for drying, I have waited three weeks before starting to work it down. Many opinions on drying times here. Do what you want and have fun doing it! Good luck and show progress !


Tracy
It is what it is - make the most of it!    PN500956

Offline dwardo

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #9 on: October 10, 2012, 02:06:36 pm »
I find the best bark removal tool is a sharp opinel knife. Very thin blade slipped under the bark works wonders.
Then go back and clean the rest of the cambium with a scraper. Nice looking timber that.

Offline armymedic.2

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #10 on: October 10, 2012, 02:52:47 pm »
DS, very well thought out response, thank you.   some of it i knew, lots of it was either in need of refreshing or not known. 

opinel knife.   never heard of it but will look it up and check it out.     It is some really nice looking stuff, and it looks straight, but im having a bugger splitting a stave out.  ill make a new post with that question.  thanks so much guys!
Some say freedom is free, well i have to disagree-
some say freedom is won, by the barrel of a gun.

mikekeswick

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Re: cut some wood today, pic heavy...not sure i know what i'm doing
« Reply #11 on: October 10, 2012, 07:03:16 pm »
Darksoul has told you all you need to know. Listen to it!!
Now go and make your own mistakes and start learning ;)